The Sidra of Mishpatim, which means social laws, is a logical sequence to the 10 Commandments which precede it. In fact, it is a commentary on them. The mediaeval commentator, Nachmanides, says that it is, particularly, a continuation of the 10th commandment which commands us not to be envious. If a person does not have […]
The Sidra this week is named Yitro, who was Moses’ father-in-law. Perhaps, it was intended to honour him for the good advice which he offered to Moses in the course of his visit. The Torah tells us that he heard that the Israelites had been liberated from Egypt. It also tells us that he brought […]
Only five Sidrot are named after a Biblical personality. Three of those personalities, No’ach, Yitro and Pinchas, were greatly admired. The other two, Korach and Balak, became famous for their evil conduct. It is possible that Yitro was given the honour of having a Sidra named after him because he was one of the greatest […]
This Shabbat has a special name. It is called Shabbat Shirah, because it contains the famous Song of the Sea. The Sidra takes its name from the second word which means when he expelled. The Israelites were now in the desert. We are told that God decided not to take them on the short route, […]
The first section of today’s Sidra describes the Israelites’ journey out of the land of Egypt. They travelled from Sukkot to Etam, which was situated on the edge of the desert. The Torah tells us the route by which the Almighty decided to take them. There were three possible routes: the North Eastern route, […]
The name of the Sidra means Go and Appear. God told Moses to go back to the Palace and confront Pharaoh once more. Seven plagues had not convinced Pharaoh to release the Israelite slaves, and three more were still to come. At this point, Moses was told that the plagues had an additional purpose. They […]
The Sidra of BO contains the last three plagues; Locusts, Darkness and the Killing of the First Born Sons. These three plagues stand out because they are associated with darkness, directly or indirectly. The Torah says that the locusts came in such vast numbers that they covered the entire sky, so that the land became […]
The name of the Sidra means HE APPEARED. The first sentence of the Sidra tells us that God appeared to Abraham in a place called Elone Mamre. Elon is a name of a tree. Alon means a tree and today is has become a beautiful Modern Israeli name. Mamre was one of Abraham’s Amorite allies. […]
My question is: Why doesn’t the new Sidra begin with a new chapter, instead of beginning at chapter 6 verse 2? The answer is that the chapter divisions were introduced into the Bible by Stephen Langton, an archbishop of Canterbury in 1227, whereas our Rabbis divided the Torah into Sedarim much earlier. The divisions […]
The name of the Sidra means GO. God addresses Avram, Abraham’s original name, for the first time, and instructs him as follows: “Go to the land which I will show you.” The Torah does not explain why God spoke to Avram. The call came out of the blue. Only in next week’s Sidra, we read […]